Acting Justice Minister Donika Gërvalla has said the discovery of human remains at a third suspected location in Zubin Potok once again highlights what she described as crimes committed by Serbian state forces during the Kosovo war.
Reacting to the latest discovery on Friday, Gërvalla said the findings underscore the importance of investigating every piece of information that could help determine the fate of people who were forcibly disappeared during the conflict.
“This discovery once again demonstrates the crimes committed by the genocidal Serbian state, where thousands of innocent civilians, including women and children, were killed, disappeared and subjected to sexual violence, while nearly one million others were forcibly expelled from their homes,” Gërvalla said in a statement published on Facebook.
She stressed that the consequences of wartime crimes do not end when the crimes themselves are committed, arguing that efforts to conceal victims and destroy evidence have prolonged the suffering of families searching for their missing relatives.
“Efforts to hide the victims and erase the traces of the crime have also prolonged the suffering of families and made the search for truth an obligation that continues to this day,” she said.
Gërvalla added that every piece of information and every suspected location must therefore be treated with the utmost seriousness.
The Kosovo Police and the Special Prosecution Office announced earlier on Friday that human remains had been identified at a third suspected location in Zubin Potok as part of ongoing excavations related to investigations into wartime crimes.
Investigators are continuing examinations and other necessary procedures at the site in coordination with the relevant institutions to establish the circumstances surrounding the discovery.
The latest finding follows the discovery of suspected mass graves in Kalludër and Jabukë, also in the municipality of Zubin Potok, in recent days.
